Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Owen's 25

I got the idea from my sweet friend Renee to complete one of those "25 Things About Me" lists...not about myself, but instead about Owen. What a fun list to look back at together when he gets older! Okay, so without further ado, here are:


25 Fun & Unique Things About Owen:

1. He is 100%, hands down, ALL boy. It's all about cars, trucks, & planes these days. It's so funny how little boys are hardwired for that stuff. Owen gets sooo excited when he sees them in books or on tv--and if it's in person, forget about it, he's over the moon excited & has to tell everyone in ear shot about what he sees!

2. We don't know where he came up with it, but a "ju-ju" is Owen's word for anything sweet--a popsicle, a sucker, a piece of candy, just about anything chocked full o' sugar is a "juuuuu, juuuuuu!!!"

3. Owen's quite the little helper around the house. If he spills something, we can hand him a towel & he'll wipe it right up. He likes to sweep with the broom & swiffer the floors. I think dusting is his favorite though--he thinks that fluffy little wand is something pretty special ;)

Mama's little helper!

4. His "nite nite," as he calls it--his special blue blanket that he sleeps with--is cashmere and he LOVES it! He'll reluctantly settle with a substitute blanket if his beloved "nite nite" is dirty--it has to be washed by hand you know ;) but he's not completely content with anything but pure cashmere baby. He's developed a taste for the finer things in life a little early I guess :)

5. Owen is quite the climber & you REALLY have to keep your eye on the little guy or he can get into trouble pretty quickly. He'll climb on the outside of the stair railing, on top of the tables (and do a little victory dance I might add), on top of our tall barstools, basically anywhere he can. He's a little overzealous sometimes too and gets up somewhere, but then gets stuck & can't get down!

Owen's "victory dance" after his latest climbing adventure

6. He's quite the little comedian & loves to make people look at him & laugh. He has a special "surprise" face that always does the trick where he gets really big eyes & opens his mouth really wide. It is precious! I have yet to catch the infamous surprise face on camera, but I'm still tryin'!

7. Owen is a dancin' fool! Put on a little music & watch him go, that boy can groove with the best of them :) I guess he comes by it honestly, his mama loves to dance too!

8. Owen is not a big eater, he never has been. However, you can pretty much count on him eating animal cookies, yogurt, & fruit just about any time.

9. He can name almost all of his body parts--eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, toes...he's got them covered! He's especially fascinated by toes & is quite entertained to grab them (& has even been known to try to bite them on occasion!). He thinks it's hilarious!

Trying to tickle mama's toes!

10. Owen really likes to contribute to conversations & put in his two cents--he gets this loud "big boy" voice & when Tony's out talking with a neighbor in the yard, Owen likes to interject an opinion or two, making sure his voice gets heard too ;)

11. In the same respect, Owen also has a "special" voice for kids & pets too. He likes to talks to them in really loud, high pitch, squeal type voice...I guess maybe he thinks they understand him better that way.

12. My little guy is a huge fan of ducks. Ducks in books, ducks in paintings, ducks on t.v., ducks in real life. His favorite book is "Cold Little Duck, Duck, Duck" which is a must read at least once a day.

13. Owen & I have a special morning routine that we do nearly every single day...and I'm not sure which one of us loves it more :) I fix coffee for me & milk for him & we sit in our red chair in the living room & watch "Sid the Science Kid" and/or "Sesame Street." These are the moments I will treasure absolutely forever.

14. This boy loves his shoes...again, channeling his mama I think ;) When Owen gets a pair of shoes on he likes to strut his stuff around the house, admiring his cool kicks. Sometimes he will ask to put on shoes even when we're just staying home all day. He's so funny like that.

15. Owen's laughter is hands down my favorite sound in the entire world, period.

16. Sometimes "no" really means "yes" so I often have to ask Owen a question more than once. He may just have to think twice about whether or not he really wants a "ju ju" ;)

17. If we're outside, no matter what he's doing, Owen will stop everything, point, & shout if he sees a bird or plane in the sky. He has to make sure everyone else sees it too.

It's a "PANE"! (aka, plane)

18. He doesn't do it quite as often as he used to, but Owen likes to interject "GO DAWGS!" at the end of the blessing before a meal. That's my boy!

19. It is a precious sight to see Owen watching sports with his daddy :) Owen will clap & shout right along with Tony, it's just so stinkin' cute to watch the two of them together having "guys time."

20. Owen gets the hiccups a lot. He used to get them almost every single day inside my tummy when I was pregnant with him. It used to make me smile when I would feel him start hiccuping around in there. I still smile when he gets them and I think I always will--it reminds me of those sweet memories from before he was born.

21. In case you needed further convincing that this little stinker' is ALL boy...he's way into practicing throwing punches & kicks. He even has his own sound effects--separate sounds for each of his moves--as he karate punches & kicks the air around him.

22. Owen's really good at naming animals. He can name just about every farm animal & some of the zoo animals too (those are a little harder, I mean what 19 month old do you know who can say elephant?!) However, he doesn't quite have "dinosaur" down. When you point to a dinosaur and ask what it is, Owen will "ROAAARRR!!!!" in your face. He's got the concept right though!

23. I'm sure a lot of kids do this, but Owen doesn't inhale when he "smells" flowers. Instead, he exhales air out of his nose. He may not have the concept of smelling things down, but it does come in handy when I need him to blow his nose!

24. Owen will use any object that even resembles a golf club to practice his swing--a stick, a bat, an actual club....anything works for him!

...hmmm, the next Tiger Woods, perhaps?

25. When the "practice" punches & kicks accidentally make contact with a person (namely his mama!) Owen is very quick to offer kisses to try and weasel his way out of trouble. Who knew they learned manipulation at such an early age?!

26. Okay, so even though this thing should be officially complete at 25, a list about Owen would not be complete without me adding that I am blessed beyond measure to be his mama. Owen is the very best thing that I've ever been a part of & I thank my Heavenly Father every single day for bringing him into my life. I am truly grateful for this beautiful, wonderful, perfect little boy that I get to call my son.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Farewell Bowens :(

October 1st was a very bittersweet day for us--our sweet friends, The Bowens, moved to Charleston, SC. While we are very, very sad to see them go, we are excited to see all that God has in store for them in South Carolina. For 5 years Stacey & Brandon were beyond AWESOME next door neighbors to have & they definitely can't be replaced, but on the up side, they sure did move to a very fun place & we look forward to visiting them soon :) While we can't call them our neighbors anymore, I know they'll be our friends forever & we're very grateful for the wonderful friendship that developed from some of the very first people we met when we moved into our neighborhood. We had a sort of farewell party for them on the night they moved. They guys all helped pack up the U-Haul & the ladies entertained the kids & made dinner. Not all of our "Neighbor Night" friends were able to attend, but most of them were there and we had a great send off for the Bowens. We love you Brandon, Stacey, Ava & Landry...best wishes in Charleston & we're coming to visit ya'll soon!!! Here are some pictures from our evening...

Our sweet friends--the Bowens :) Ava was very excited about cake :)Cutting their cake We love these people!!!
Our AWESOME group of neighbor friends
(minus Emory & the Honakers & Dunns)



Monday, September 21, 2009

18 Months Old

Owen is now 18 months old and I can hardly believe it! He has grown so, so much over the past 6 months! Owen now loves to run everywhere, climb on anything, and generally get into as much mischief as he possibly can :) He constantly keeps me on my toes and busy, busy, BUSY! He's an absolute delight and keeps me entertained every waking second :)

He's starting to put several words together to form sentences--our family favorite by far being "GOOO DAWGS!!!"--and it's a constant surprise what he'll say next. Owen LOVES to play with Daddy--his favorites being golf in the yard and chase in the house. Some days he's more of a mama's boy and others a tried & true daddy's boy, but he always has more than enough affection to go around with hugs & kisses for everyone. Every color is "bue" (blue) and every number is "two", but he's starting to recognize & identify lots of animals & the sounds they make. His favorite book by far is "Cold Little Duck Duck Duck" which he wants to read at least once a day asking for it by name--"Duck Duck Duck!". He melts our hearts when he folds his hands for the blessing at dinner time and contributes, saying "tink you God" and makes us laugh out loud as he very frequently adds, GO DAWGS!!!" to the end of our prayers :) I am in constant awe & thanksgiving to our incredible Lord and Savior for the absolute blessing that Owen is to my life. Being his mama is the best thing that I've ever been a part of and I'm forever grateful to call him my son!

We went to his 18 month well check last week and here's how he's measuring:
21 pounds, 4 ounces (3rd-10th percentile)
33 1/2 inches long (97th percentile)
48 centimeter head circumference (50th-75th percentile)

Here are some of my favorite pics of my busy little 18 month old, Enjoy! :)




Sunday, September 20, 2009

Christmas Photo Shoot

My friend, Karen, of Karen Baker Photography (do go check out her site...she's FABULOUS!!!) and I have decided to partner up for Christmas cards this year--she with her photography biz, and me with my stationery/card biz, HD Designs. We have combined forces and are offering Christmas Mini Session Packages (if you're interested & would like more info, please visit Karen's or my website).

SOOOOOO.... in order to sort of kick off our endeavor and advertise/announce our partnership, Karen did a photo shoot with our family a few weekends ago. I mean, I knew they were going to be great, but let me just tell you, every single last image turned out perfectly and we L-O-V-E all of them! We had such a fun time doing the shoot with Karen, she made the entire process so easy & natural. My parents came along to entice Owen to look in the right directions, cooperate, etc. and Karen even snapped a few of them with us at the end. It was quite hard to narrow it down, they really are all my favorite, but here are my very favorite, favorites of the session...

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Golfing With Daddy

One of Owen's favorite activities these days is playing golf with his daddy! Noni & Grandpa gave Owen a set of his very own clubs a few months back (plastic of course!) and they are some of his favorite toys. It is so precious to watch the two of them out in the yard together. Owen is incredibly observant, watching Tony's every move and then mimicking him, just so. I really need to get a video of Owen lining up the ball and pulling the club into a backswing--he actually has pretty decent form! I'd say he probably makes contact with the ball 8 times out of 10--not too shabby for a 17 month old, eh?! Enjoy these adorable pics of Owen & Tony out in the yard tonight :) Getting some pointers from Daddy

What a natural!

Contemplating his next stroke ;)
Now it's time to use Daddy's clubs!

Yeah, I like this one!

Oh, this one's a little heavier

Check out the concentration :)

Okay, time to call it a day!


Friday, August 14, 2009

Meeting Catherine!

Last week we were very fortunate & blessed to meet little miss Catherine for the very first time! It was such a joy to finally lay my eyes on this wonderful, darling little miracle baby and also have some much needed and much overdue catch up time with her sweet mama, Katie! On Friday morning we had some special "just girls" time with Emilie, Sara, Cori, Katie, and me. We met at a coffee shop to eat breakfast and chat. It had been quite a while since we'd all had some time to hang out and it was exactly what we all needed! We definitely missed our other sweet friends who couldn't make it, but we're all saying prayers & keeping our fingers crossed that everyone can be at our annual Girls Weekend this fall!

On Saturday morning we met at Sara & Richard's house to hang out. Emilie & Lee were headed to the beach that day so they didn't make it, but Katie, Catherine, & Cori were all there--along with Sara's mom, Linda, Tony & Richard too. It was so fun to watch Jack, Catherine, & Owen all play together. Catherine is such a smiley, happy baby girl and she sure held her own with those boys :) Here are some pictures from our visit!
Then on Sunday we got to see them again! We went to Catherine's 1st Birthday party which was so very special and exciting. It was emotional to reflect on how God has carried their family over the past year, but all glory to Him for the celebration of sweet Catherine Marie turning 1! We had so much fun celebrating Catherine and visiting with sweet friends. Thank you again, Katie & Donnie, for including us in your baby girl's celebration, we were so honored to be there!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mississippi Trip

The weekend before Tony headed back to work, we took one last summer trip with to Mississippi. Kelly came with us, but unfortunately neither Robert nor Chris was able to join us due to work. First we went to Aberdeen, to Tony's grandmother's house (dad's side) for a visit and delicious dinner. Owen played outside on the swing set and had lots of fun running around all over the porch. That night we headed to New Albany to see Tony's grandparents on his mom's side, Daddy D & Dean. Lots more wonderful food and good visiting! We even helped D shell some peas--D has a fabulous garden! Late the next afternoon we headed to Pickwick to Tony's aunt & uncle, Ronny & Pat's, lake house. Tony's cousin, Dan, & his wife, Robin, & their 3 kids--Reese, Charlie, & Banks joined us that evening. The next day D & Dean joined us as well. We spent almost the entire day out on the lake boating, tubing, & just floating around and letting the kids play in the water. It was a great end of the summer trip--we had a lot of fun!